ERISA Plan Fiduciaries’ Proxy Voting: Regulatory Updates
What are ISS and Glass Lewis and Why Should My Bank Care?
The 2024 proxy season is just around the corner. This quick reference guide, which is intended to supplement Shearman & Sterling’s 21st Annual Corporate Governance & Executive Compensation Survey, summarizes themes from the...more
Each year in our Annual Memo, White & Case's Public Company Advisory Group provides practical insights on preparing Annual Reports on Form 10-Ks, Annual Meeting Proxy Statements and, for FPIs, the Annual Report on Form 20-F....more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy voting advisory firms in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the U.S. market for the 2024...more
Companies have important decisions to make as they prepare for the 2024 annual meeting and reporting season. We have compiled this overview of the latest key issues — including SEC disclosure requirements, SEC guidance,...more
Welcome to the Corporate Briefing, where we review the latest developments in UK corporate law that you need to know about. In this month’s issue, we discuss...more
Form 13F filers will need to file their first Form N-PX covering the period of July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, by August 31, 2024. Rule 14Ad1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (Exchange Act), which was adopted by...more
Corporate boardroom diversity has increased significantly over the last few years, and the interest in and demand for gender and racial/ethnic diversity on boards of directors remain high. Lack of corporate board diversity...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (“ISS”) and Glass Lewis recently released their respective policy updates for the 2022 proxy season. Key topics include board diversity and board oversight of environmental and social risks....more
Introduction - Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) recently published its 2022 updates to its benchmark proxy voting policies. The policies will govern ISS’ voting recommendations for shareholder meetings held on or...more
Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis, the leading proxy advisors in the United States, have announced updates and clarifications for their voting guidelines for the 2022 proxy season. Their voting...more
In a move we expect will pave the road for an increase in proxy contests, on November 17, 2021, the Securities and Exchange Commission adopted new Rule 14a-19 and amendments to existing rules under the Securities Exchange Act...more
As expected, the SEC has adopted final rules requiring the use of universal proxy cards in shareholder meetings involving non-exempt contested director elections held after August 31, 2022. In addition, certain amendments...more
On Thursday, November 4, proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) launched an open comment period on 16 proposed policy changes. The request for comment grouped the proposed changes within five general...more
Once again, it is time to prepare for the proxy and annual report season. There are many issues to take into consideration when crafting required regulatory disclosures in a manner that conveys effective messaging to the...more
Our preliminary list of important planning considerations for the 2022 proxy season is set forth below. - Directors’ and Officers’ Questionnaires; Committee Charters - We have identified only a few possible changes...more
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is actively reconsidering its position on the applicability of its proxy rules to proxy voting advice. Background - In July 2020, the SEC adopted amendments to its proxy...more
On April 9, 2021, the Division of Examinations of the US Securities and Exchange Commission (“Division” or “staff”) issued a risk alert to highlight the staff’s observations from its recent examinations of investment...more
In a speech on March 15, 2021, Allison Herren Lee, Acting Chair of the SEC, reported on the steps the SEC is taking to meet investors’ growing demand for climate and ESG information, stating that “no single issue has been...more
Executive pay has been a hot topic for a number of years but the uncertainty created by the pandemic has resulted in an increased level of scrutiny of public company pay decisions and revised related proxy voting...more
The SEC’s long-awaited final rules governing voting advice provided by proxy advisory firms such as Institutional Shareholders Service (ISS) and Glass Lewis (the “final rules”) became effective on November 2, 2020. The final...more
Proxy advisory firms Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) and Glass Lewis recently announced updates to their proxy voting guidelines for the 2021 proxy season. These updates reflect institutional investors’ increased...more
ISS and Glass Lewis Open Peer Group Submission Windows Soon - On November 12, 2020, Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) published its Proxy Voting Guidelines Updates for 2021, which are effective for meetings on or...more
The Situation: On July 22, 2020, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC") adopted final rule amendments to regulate proxy voting advice as part of its emphasis on modernizing the proxy process. The final SEC...more
BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street Global Advisors are the world’s three largest asset managers, collectively representing over $16 trillion in AUM, including 81% of all ETF assets. These “Big Three” investors collectively...more
During 2019, the Division of Corporation Finance (the “Division” or the “Staff”) of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) addressed a number of regulatory issues affecting public companies and participants...more